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Gee, I have a video for that. You can see if it fits right at home. Go get your mask and head to CZcams and check out how a mask is supposed to fit. Complete fitting guide. Extra tip for you. As a contact wearer, you can keep your contacts in your eyes if your mask comes off simply by squinting your eyes. Obviously you can't see very good but the upper and lower eyelids trap the contact against your eye and you can still see enough to get your mask back on or get to the surface. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching. Freddy

@@LeviathanScuba Oooooh, thank you!!! 👏🏽👏🏽 I actually took my mask to work and let my coworker see it on me, he’s a certified diver and he also wears contacts. He hadn’t mentioned the squinting though. It might just be one of those natural things for him and he just didn’t think to tell me. I’m getting contacts simply for my trip, but I hadn’t worn them faithfully since high school, I’m 49y/o. It’s been more than 6 years since I stopped getting them and I’ve never worn them in any water. 😵

My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well. I didn't state which was better, just more prominent. Thanks for reaching out. Freddy

I do agree that many are changing. My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well. Thanks for watching. Freddy

Man, you are correct. My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well. My point wasn't which was better just more prominent in the world. I do get side tracked thinking my audience is only in America. Not so today but global. Sorry for not including Europe or Egypt on my research. Thanks for keeping it real. Freddy

Thank you for the explanation. Sorry I butchered the language. Thanks for watching. Freddy

Great information. Thanks for sharing. Freddy

You are correct. My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well. I sometimes forget my audience is global and not so much just America. I like the taste of crow now. Thanks for watching. Freddy

Thank you for the kind words. Hope it helps in some way. Take care, Freddy

I'm not sure the Red Sea is all DIN. I dived there last year on yoke, albeit just on a discover scuba day trip. Agree in general though. My recent trip to Sicily was all DIN.

My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well. Funny how people pick up on something that I didn't think was that important. Not a comment on which was better but how many locations we dive that don't have din. Thanks for watching. Freddy

Also if it is a DIN tank valve and they need an adapter for the diver using yoke, there are two orings on the adapter. One inside and one outside. My survey was done in Caribbean, Fiji, Indonesia, South Pacific and America. I have been corrected for places like Egypt and I guess growing in Europe as well.

ya but he's talking to the rec divers, who are thinking of buying a reg. Some get lost with which to get., when most people only really need yoke, and in the long run it will make thier lives easier to get that. I read all the DIN is technically better when i was looking for a reg and got a DIN with an adapter. but I'm realizing that I really only needed the yoke version since most of the time I'm renting tanks and i have to use the adapter all the time. I'm not tech, maybe one day I will be... but in no way will your first rec reg be your tech reg. so I'll second the make it easy on yourself and don't buy the "cream de la cream" as you start a sport.

@marcg2233 using DIN with adapter is essentially killing all the benefits of it. For rec diver the main difference probably will be who is responsible for o-ring. If you have yoke - dive shop problem. If you have din - your problem. I use yoke myself, I've seen few o-rings blow out here and there, but if you pay attention to it , you will not have a problem. I had shearwater transmitter blow up in my face few weeks back, and it's the best you can get , and it still can fail apparently.

exactly, I made that mistake cause I read the wrong info. (yay hindsight) what i'm saying his audience isn't tech divers but people getting into rec diving. it's not about which is better, but which will make the new divers life easier.

@marcg2233 I think in today's world , both will be easy. Convertor valves become a norm more and more. I like the DIN since it's a bit more compact, but not to the point where I'm gonna go thru trouble of selling my Yoke to buy DIN. Yoke is doing it's job just fine for me, my wife have a DIN just because that's was in stock and on sale when we got it.

@@amadeuss3341 I agree. If you mostly dive a location that uses DIN then a DIN regulator could make sense. But a new diver hunting a product would mostly be served with a Yoke. Again, not commenting on which is better just what most recreational divers might choose verses Tech diver. Thanks for making it a better conversation. Freddy

here comes the real question, do you rent your tanks or own them? cause if you rent where you dive, you'll have to use an adapter and then you're back to square 1. If it will make you feel safer, and I totaly get that, I can see it make sence...but, if you do you have to account shelling out for new tanks as well or the benefits are nill. discalimer "I run a DIN with an adapter" cause I read the "they are stronger" blogs, but have yet to buy my own tank so i'm not seeing the benefit and wish I just bought a yoke.

@@marcg2233 Convenience really isn't a factor for me regarding renting tanks. 99% of my diving is around the world, esp. Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Just got back from Little Cayman and I noticed that they used the Yoke insert in DIN valves for those of us using Yoke. On one of my dives that O-Ring was bad and I had to get it changed before dropping in. For those using DIN, they just took the insert out for a native DIN setup. It would appear most dive resorts are going that direction and if so, I'd rather have DIN.

@@zstanman482 if that's the case cool, means I made the right choice, first time. I just need to start diving those resorts:) any recommendations?

@@marcg2233 Well, not knowing where you've been or what kind of diving you like, you have to go to Cozumel, kind of a "right of passage" for all divers, you'll love drift diving. I really liked Roatan (Honduras), Little Cayman was nice and a little known gem in the Dutch Caribbean is a little island called Saba that was really good. Can't recommend a liveaboard called "The Valentina" highly enough, where we dove The Sea of Cortez around La Paz, diving with Sea Lions was awesome. We're going to Bonaire in November, heard nothing but good things and we're going to Thailand in February. Happy to give a report on both of those when I get back. Happy diving!

@@zstanman482 thanks i'll check those for the next trip.

You must have the shrinking neoprene. Haha. If you can't get a suit that fits then fit the suit. Take care, Freddy

Thanks, apparently they need to eat a lot. The numbers grew so fast with our first channel and now they go soooo sloooow. Thanks for watching. Take care. Freddy

Honestly, in 2023 they discontinued the Twin Jet Fin. I haven't heard of a revamp design. I will look into it however. There were available Twin Jets in different colors that had different stiffness but even the stiffest was pretty weak in the propulsion department. I am very curious now if they have come out with a newer version. Thanks for the heads up. Freddy.

@@LeviathanScuba maybe they are old new stock and the salesman was just BSing me. I wish I could post a picture here. These fins have a tighter gap between the split halves and have composite panels built in to the fin halves.

@@chuckcull5674 Send me a picture. My email is Freddy@ckscuba.com. You have me curious. Sure they are the ScubaPro Twin Jet? Not, jetfin, aqua jet, or many other choices that have the word jet in them. Another strange part of this is that the TwinJet was monprene material. (Urathane). No composite material in the blade.

@@LeviathanScuba Picture sent to your email. let me know if you got it. You can see the Twin Jet Max Logo on the top of the fin.

No you're not screwed. I can help eliminate some of the hassle for you. Help me see you in my minds eye. Male, Female? Narrow face, medium face, wide face. Asian? How tall are you? And would you say your face carries weight or are you very thin in the face meaning fat content. If you can send me a head shot I will give you some good choices that fit many faces. My email is Freddy@CKscuba.com. Hope to help you make it easy. Where in the world do you live (for shipping if in the US I can send). Take care, Freddy.

@@LeviathanScuba well im a male and would say normal towards larger face. Wouldnt say fat though. My ŵeight is around 268 lb and my height is 6.2ft And i can send you a profile pic sure NO worries. Would surely appreciate the help. Im in sweden so ordering from you is of course is a possibility .

And im caucasian. My face isnt thin either would say normal or towards abit wider Dont carry to much fat either. Im sending you a pic now on your e-mail.

So did u have time to look into my email and request. Wanted to order as soon as possible to be able to get a mask to this weekend if possible.

@@Justmakesomenoiz Just to make sure, are you Zion? If so then yes I sent it all. If not then I did not receive an email from you.

I used to have those. They were the first to be made under the Natures Wings Patent. Very good but very heavy compared to the modern version made by Atomic. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. Freddy

I’m going look the Atomic version up and maybe try them out. Thanks

Such a great full comment. The think I like about it is that you are safe but you lived a great lesson. So many people take diving for granted as if nothing bad could ever happen. If you weren't self sufficient you might not be here now. (Thankfully you are). Um, the answer to your question about descent using it to deflate your bcd is a bit complicated simply because you are a newer diver. You will note in many of my videos I discuss not putting air in your bcd. If you do have air to hold you on the surface then it depends upon the make of your bcd. Why? because some have a cord inside your bcd hose that allows you to simply pull down on your inflator or secondary air source to open the dump valve. Still many require you to raise the inflator over your head to dump. I have the type with the cord inside and always use my dump valve to descend IF I have air in my bcd. What I am diving now has no bladder at all. Nothing to put air in. Can't hold a teaspoon of air. Just filming it to prove a point. Find my video that says you have too much air in your bc. Explains a lot more than I can put in text here. The nitrox is not even a concern. If you are safely diving nitrox then you are at safe depth. Your buddy would only be improved in an emergency situation by breathing nitrox. No complications in your out of air scenario. You would be surfacing and not going deeper so no problem. Thanks for watching, Freddy.

Thank you for the kind words. On to the next one. Freddy

Kind words. Thank you. Freddy

Yes, and to make it more confusing, they copied their own technology for the Jet Fin. So much technology has gone into modern fins that they are lighter, stronger, and better thrust today. Thanks for watching. More to come soon. Freddy

Coming soon. Thanks for watching. Being newer, is a great place to be. Very exciting when so much is new. Go slow and enjoy your journey. Thanks for watching. More to come soon. Freddy

@MichaelGoodness, Backplate and Wing may not be the ideal choice for every dive you are trying to do. If you're going doubles, backplate is the right answer. Suppose, however, you are doing a warm water dive on a single tank. It is nice to have pockets, not worry about a crotch strap, carry ditchable weights, and have fully adjustable shoulder harnesses. All of these things are easier with a traditional style BCD. A backplate can be made to have all these things but then you've just spent way more effort to solve something that could have been done in one step. The best approach is to head to your local dive shop and tell the experts there what type of diving you are hoping to try. You will find that they, like Freddy here, have some great ideas to incorporate! He certainly has shared plenty of wisdom with me and I am better for it.

It is possible to dive any kind of equipment you want to. But, is it ideal for the type of diving you are going to do? Recreational diving and Technical diving are different in numerous ways. A backplate system is more customizable for technical needs. So being modular, you get the pieces you want for the dive you are doing. Example, would be if you were doing side mount, or twin tanks, etc. The manufacturers have created numerous set ups for divers that are comfortable, convenient and packaged to fit your need. That is how the back inflate travel BC was born. It gives the best parts of the back mounted bladders like a backplate design but they made it so very convenient and comfortable. Example would be easy adjustable padded straps instead of nylon webbing that you add pads to. They removed the crotch strap and made the waist strap fit so much better. Weight pockets or pouches built right in. I could go on and on. General rule of thumb is technical divers modify their back plate parts and pieces for technical diving. Recreational divers choose a bcd that best fits their style of diving. But, You can obviously do anything you want to. That is the beauty of our sport with the options available to us. Thanks for watching. Freddy

@@David-ij4bf I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for joining in and making it a community answer. Thanks for watching. Freddy

@@David-ij4bf I wish I could hire you. You said it perfectly. Thanks for being eyes and ears on the topic. More to come soon, Freddy.

Makes us all better. Thank you for the response. More to come soon. Freddy

Now get yourself some very slippery dive socks. It is a well kept secret. They are such a luxury and your suit legs glide on like butter. You can look up our video on dive socks if your not sure what they are. Cheap and help a lot. Thanks for watching. Freddy

@@LeviathanScuba Thanks! I sure am gonna get me one of those.

So, a person cannot scuba dive at depth with an earplug. Yet, These you can. Why, because they have a laser (very tiny) hole in them. They are not meant to keep the water out completely. They are meant to stop the flow of water in and out of the ear. Purpose is to allow you to equalize as you descend and keep the water that gets in inside the ear to warm up. A warm ear drum equalizes easier than a cold one. You might watch the video again now that I have explained. It will make sense. Take care, Freddy.

@@LeviathanScuba thank you.

Key word lengthy. Just couldn't fit it all in with a 15 minute video. You are kind. Thanks for watching. Freddy

The first and most important thing is not a mask that I might recommend but a mask that fits properly. That being said, Almost any mask that TUSA makes fits a majority of people and is absolutely one of the highest quality manufacturers there are. Atomic is great quality but are particular to the face they fit. XS Scuba masks are also affordable, quality and the Seaclear, Monarch or Spectre fits a lot of people. Don't buy a great mask if it doesn't fit. You will regret it I promise. Thanks for watching, Freddy.

Very well said. I wish I had addressed the part about the longer you dive the more streamlined you become. Great reply. Thank you for watching. More to come soon. Freddy

The basic answer is no problem on the prescription. The more detailed answer is, Some masks require adding lenses, others require replacing lenses. This can depend on the severity of the prescription as you may have guessed. I haven't seen a limit yet of the strength of the prescription. My advice is find your proper fitting mask first. Then whomever does your prescription can make a difference. Why? Because it depends on which company or companies they use. We decide where we send it depending upon the situation, strength, type of mask etc. Some companies only use 1 supplier, or the manufacturer of the mask. (We do not use the manufacturer for custom prescriptions because they pre make lenses in generic prescriptions. So some of them are close but not perfect.) For a ground lens, be prepared for a current 2024 price to be $150 - $240 US dollars. If they are replacing your masks lenses I recommend keeping the original non prescription lenses because you never know... You may change prescriptions or have Lasic surgery to correct your vision. Happens all the time. Often later after retiring your style mask, the manufacturer cannot get you original replacement lenses. Hope this helps. Thank you for watching. More to come soon. Freddy

@@LeviathanScuba oh my, this answer exceeded my expectation! Thank you so much for taking the time, giving me such a detailed and nuanced answer! I appreciate it! When I found out about Tusa masks and their interchangale prescription lenses, I got excited, then I saw they didn't correct for astigmatism, so I went to my optometrist, to see if I can compansate for the astigmatism by increasing the power of the sphere; apparently, this is a possibilty. I tried it and It didn't look good (particularly because the cylinders are off-axis) and he told me that custom would cost around 650 USD, but they use Carl Zeiss lenses, I believe, and the price includes the mask (not sure how that works..). Regardless, I will take all I learned in this video and put it to good use! Yes, it certainly did help, including your take on spitting to defog (which I learned on a guided dive in the red sea by the instructor). I'll refrain from spitting from now on. Take care kind sir!

Even when you jump out of an airplane with a parachute you have a back up parachute.

@@johnfair62 Congratulations on comparing apple & oranges. You have a back up parachute when jumping out of a plane because if your main fail, you will die. If your AI or SPG fail, you can always abort your dive and you can freely surface. A more appropriate scuba comparison with parachute is redundancy in cave diving, penetration wreck diving, deco diving etc. You have a ceiling (artificial or physical) that prevents you from surfacing there and then if something goes wrong or break. You still need to be able to breath or find your way out. To OP, you don't need it, but there's nothing stopping you (and many in fact do). Go with what makes you feel most comfortable.

My answer may be different than other divers. But as said in the video... If you don't have an spg and your computer fails, are you dead? No. I trust my computer with my life. 5000+ dives and I do not use a spg. Has my battery ever died on a computer? Yes, and sometimes I do it on purpose to test a new computer. Still, no spg. These different scenarios have culminated in this video. I feel like most possible scenarios could be covered by this video. Might be good to watch again with your exact question in mind. Might hear something new. Thanks for watching. More to come soon. Freddy

@@johnfair62 Not the same thing my friend. Absolute death without a backup. I too would carry a spare chute. But two dive computers when it is just a minor inconvenience if the first one fails? Yeah, not for me. If for you then there is nothing wrong with that. Thanks for watching. Freddy.

@@chankwanting Great answer. I can't agree more. Thanks on making it a community answer. Take care, Freddy

Yes. No problem at all. Freddy

Yes, but they do not keep water out of your ears. They have tiny lazer holes in them to allow water to enter at about 15 feet. They equalize with the water pressure.

True? Wow, such good memories for me when I was a kid. And I like it with butter and garlic roasted on a fire. Or cut into strips in chowder. Thanks for the update. Freddy

But where do you draw the line? No idea. The thing I forget will be the thing I need. I know there will be many people that do carry redundant gear. No problem at all. Peace of mind is extremely valuable. Thanks for watching, Freddy.

that's why I bring a backup buddy.

Covered in the video pretty well but it does depend on where you are renting. We go into different rates in different countries. 3 - 4 trips is a good target. Thanks for watching. Freddy

Yeah man, I have the same scenario. Tech would be foolish to avoid redundancy. Thanks for watching, Freddy.

My guess would be that you might hold more air in your lungs. I can compensate for a 10lb difference with just my lungs. In the rare case you still cannot achieve neutral buoyancy, you could add some air in your bcd. Also, I have seen people put chunks of pool noodles in their pockets or around their bcd strap. Eat more twinkies and pizza and you won't have that problem. Hope it helps. Freddy

​@coralkeyscuba haha.....I was actually thinking of pool noodle chunks. I won't be going the gain extra flotation via twinkies and pizza tho!

When they sold them they were one of two that had splits. The market was great and they sold well. As fin design and materials changed, the V6 gave way to better materials, lighter models and the Strap version fit more people. Plus, many knock offs diluted the market and numerous brands started selling splits. You can still get them but they are not exactly as you may remember.

I'm not sure there's anything superior to the old Oceanic V6s. Only the Atomics come close but are larger and not as fast for me. But then I used to be fast with Mares Avanti Quattros but no longer have the leg muscles for them. What do you recommend to replace V6s?

You will enjoy it. More sharkey than in 2018 so it is improving. I also will have a part 2 to this video coming out before you go. Have fun. Freddy